It was a heated series with India and I successfully got under their skin, says Steve Smith
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Australian skipper Steve Smith recalls the entertaining Border-Gavaskar series earlier this year expressing how he enjoyed getting under the Indian players’ skin during the heated moments. The Aussies are touring India again this September in the festive season when sparks are sure to fly.
Young Australian skipper Steve Smith, who is considered as a close competitor to India’s Virat Kohli, fondly remembered the four-game Test Series that was held earlier this year from February to March. The 28-year-old was speaking on the Back Page Live panel show this week, and said, "I like to try and annoy them a little bit with some of my mannerisms rather than anything I say. I think I got under (the Indian team's) skin on a few occasions, which was nice.”
The series had grabbed the headlines for Ishant Sharma’s face-making incident during the second Test in Bangalore. India was on the backfoot after losing the first Test and were determined to make things even when the fast bowler came up with some faces mocking at Smith, after his defence. Smith had nodded his head sideways in reply and the players shared a light moment. Smith's consultant with the dressing room for a DRS call also raised severe criticism and Virat Kohli just stopped from calling his counterpart a cheat.
India went on to win the game and eventually the series 2-1 keeping the Kangaroos at bay. “We probably should have gone a little bit better than we did. But hopefully, we can learn a lot from the way we played there and keep moving forward as a team."
Smith and company are to visit India from September 17 to October 11, where they play five ODIs and three T20Is. The plans haven’t been frozen yet owing to Cricket Australia’s ongoing pay dispute. Smith shed some light on that front as well.
“All the boys have been training and working incredibly hard and everyone's fit. It's actually been a good little period for us … for the international guys we don’t often get these kinds of breaks so it’s nice to get some strength work in and some fitness in to try and sustain a level for a period of time now,” said the right-handed batsman.
